I planned a day when I could take my wife to see the woods in its spring clothes.  Also to meet my good neighbours for the first time. We picked a great day, it was beautifully sunny when we both arrived at the gate at the same time. A quick introduction then unload the car and set up in the sunny area where I camp. Filled the bird feeders and just sat watching them for ten minutes – nuthatches, robins, blue tits, great tits, coal tits and chaffinch. Kettle on and coffee brewing. My neighbours joined us and we chatted, drank coffee and ate cookies in the sun (or at least I did!) How much better can it get?

We had a few small jobs to do but first, a guided tour for my wife. This truly is the best time of year to see the woods. Here we have beautiful Dog Violets and Bluebells mixed with some Dog’s Mercury.

I was given a fantastic present for my birthday from some very good friends of ours. It was a bee “hotel” and I was keen to fix it up in the woods. It is intended for wild solitary bees. They don’t live in colonies and lay their eggs singly, usually in hollow stems, leaving some food and then seal it up with mud. It will be an interesting feature which I can watch for activity. I shall report back in due course.

We ate our tuna sandwiches in the sun and watched the birds again before tackling the next small job. My daughter gave me a woodland flower seed mix at Christmas and I wanted to sow them. I simply scraped back the dead leaves in a couple of areas, scattered the seed and raked them over. It’ll be good to see what comes up. It was a real treat just being able to enjoy the scerenity of the woodland and not too much hard work. I left my wife chilling out for a while whilst I watered the seeds. We packed up, said goodbye to the neighbours and headed home. Another memorable visit in the bag.